Braiding-machine.



- o. R. VAN VBGHTB BRAIDING Manama APPLICATION FILBD JAN. 3, 1910.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911 3 BEEETB BHEBT 2.

0. RF VAN VECHTL'N.

BBAIDXNG MACHINE. APPLIOATIOH mum JAE. a, mo.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

m aw w 7 UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

ORVILLE R. VAN VECHTEN, OF TOMPKINSVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, OFONE-HALF TO FREDERICK J. GRACE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

vTo.cZ l wlwrri. it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORVILLE R. VAN

' ,Vnoirrnx, a citizen of the United States, residing at. Tompkinsville,county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in .Braiding-Machines, fully described andrepresented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to braiding machines for, braiding or weavingtubular fabric.

'oneiset 0 threads or strands is led from ,tubes carried by a rotatingcarrier, and the other set of threads or strands are led from tub'e'scarried b oppositely moving shuttles. ;,1,-. -The object o the inventionis to provide a i rac-tical machine of this class which shall e. simplein construction, certain in its =-."operation, and which" shall have alarge product on at a low operating speed, and wh ch,because of its slowoperating speed,

. the short movements of its reciprocating parts, and its simplicity ofconstruction, shall be comparatively noiseless in operation and shallhave great durability.

As a full understanding of the invention can best be given by a detaileddescription of a machine embodying the various features of the inventionin a preferred form,

such a description will now be given in connection with the accompanyingdrawlngs showing such a preferred form of machine, and in which- Figure1 1s a side view of such 'a preferred form of machine in elevation; Fig.2 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 3 is a. plan vlewpartly brokenaway of the weavmg or braiding mechanism proper, and

I with one of the shuttles" and shuttle pushers shown in section; Fig. 4is a section on line "4 of Fig. 3; Figs,, 5 and 6 are detail plan viewspartly in slection, showing one of the shuttles a proachingyone of thevibrating thread guides, and with'.the.',.thread guide 'n different,positions 'thef tivo views Fig.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application filed January 3, 1910. Serial No. 536,020.

BRAIDING-MACHINE.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911,

.7 is a detail sectional view of one of the shuttles and thread guidestaken on the same plane as Fig. 4, but with the thread guide in itsouter position; Fig. 8 is a broken view of a. portion of the'product ofthe machine.

Referring to the drawings, the frame of the machine comprises a centraltable 10 from which radial frames 11 extend outward to an outer ring 12,the whole being supported by suitable legs or standards 13. The frames11 are preferably also connected by an intermediate ring 14. The maindrivin 16 and 17 extending downward from the ring 12 at opposite sidesof the machine. The shaft is-driven through a driving pulley 18 which ismounted free to rotate on the shaft and to which the shaft is clutchedwhen desired by means of a clutch disk 19 which is keyed to slide on theshaft and normally pressed away from the driving pulley by a spri'ng 20,and '\...ich is provided with a beveled rim for enga ing the beveledinner face of the rim of tie driving pulley when the clutchdisk isforced toward the driving pulley. For forcing the clutch disk toward thedriving pulley, a hand lever 21 is provided which has a U-shaped orforked end formed to engage in an annular groove in the hub of theclutch pulley, the sides of said U-shaped end being tapered off, asshown at 22, so that when the U-shaped end of the lever is moved upwardthe clutch pulley will be forced against the driving pulley, and whenthe U-shaped end of the lever is moved downward the clutch pulley willbe allowed to move away from the driving pulley under the pressure ofthe spring 20.

A stationary cam plate 25 is mounted on the table 10, and a. circular,plate or table 26 is mounted to rotate over the table 10 and cam plate25, and is held in position by 'means of a short central hollow shaft27.

shaft 15 is journaled in hangers Each carrier thread passes from itstube mountedgbn a post 31" through a tension device 32,, thence past astationary guide to a take-up .arm 38, thence to'a vibrating guide 34,and thence upward :and inward to the point where the threads are braidedtofgether. 'The number of osts'31', tension dei- 'vi'ces, take-up arms,an vibrating guides ,w-ill d'e nd upon the'number of threads to endzfor:twelve thread machine in which the [threa are dividedinto two sets ofsix ends.

beibrai ed, The machine shown is a twelve each, and 'the 'naachinetherefore i has six of the'posts- 3l .-andisiii sets of-the devices fortubes on. t

controllin'gljthe threads which pass from the fe sixfpostsa' i Theshuttles 35, ofwhich 'there are six .in the machine-showman mounted totravel around and adjacent to the peripheral faceof the. rim 30 of thetable or carrier 26, on a track, on the rim-of the table formed by an'formed .with concave inner'faces curved to upper vertical flange or rib36 and a lower flange or shoulder 37. The shuttles are correspondwith'the curve. of the rim of the table 26. The lower edge of eachshuttle rests on the shoulder 37, and each shuttle is formed or providedwith aninwardly extending grooved .pottionwhichrhns on the upper flangeor rib36. The shuttles are held downin place on the rim 30 by aprojecting flange which isformedby the edges of stationary plates 39-andmovable plates 40 mounted on the upper face of the table. Themovableplates 40 are arranged to slide inward to ward the-center of thetable from the posi-- tion sho'wn'in the drawings to permit the shuttlesto be. removed, being guided by the undercut edges 41 of the stationaryplates 39' and 'securedin position by set screws 42 The front end ornose a of each shuttle runs close to the face of the rim of the-table26, and'the outer surface of each shuttle is convexly curved to form asmooth surface for the passage of the carrier threads as hereinafterdescribed.

The shuttles are driven in the direction opposite to the rotation of thetable or car-;

rier 26 by means of pnshers 45 carried by a 28 and 49 will be timed,according to their, 60.

ring 46 mounted on the outer ring 12 of the. frame and held in positionby means of re movable clips or plates 47. The ring 46 carries askeleton bevel fgear 48 which meshes with a bevel gear 49 on the drivingshaft 15 at the opposite side of the machine from the gear 28, so thatthe ring 46 "will be driven in ,the direction'opposite to. that of therotation of the table 26. The gears ushers 45 are of hollowedseams fdrmof the outer side of the shuttle, and;

push the shuttles by engagmg them near their:

rear ends while leavinga Shuttle and. the-pusher until the. threadreaches thefpoin't of'engagelnent between the usher and the shuttle,at'which point the readwill be in engagement with smooth pusher, and theshuttle will be forced 'slightly'forward relatively to the pusher to.

allow the thread to pass; The inwardly projecting forward end of thepusher serves .to. prevent the shuttle from running ahead of its-properposition.

i The pushers are carried by movable sec-..

converging surfaces of the shuttle and the 'ee passage for the entranceand pass ng oft-breads between the.

tions 50 of a vertical flange vhich extends upward from the ring 4E saidmovable sections being pivoted at tli'e endsof stationary sections 51-of saidflangey and normally held in position by 'meansof suitablefastening devices 52 at their free ends. hen the fastening device52 ofany movable flange section 50 is released, the flange sect-ion 50' maybe thrown/outward to carry the pusher away from the shuttle and to giveaccess to the face of, the rim of the table or carrier 26. ,Each of theshuttles 35 carries a tube of thread or yarn, andgas shown,'has

a longitudinal chamber or recess for the tube of thread open on-the sideof the shuttle which runs against-the rim of the carrier 26 andprovlded'ateach endwith a supporting and positioning spring 53 arrangedso that the tube of thread, may be readily pushedinto place and thenrotatably sup ported by the springs 53, and that the empty tubes may bereadily pulled out; The

thread passes out from the interior of the shuttle through an opening inthe top wall beneath a tension spring 54 and under a guide 55 from whichit passes upward and inwai d to the braiding point.

The rim of the tableor' carrier 26 is formed with a number of verticalperipheral recesses corresponding tothe number. of tube pins or posts31,and in these'recesses are mounted ,the vibrating thread uides 34. Suchguides 34 are formed .with a vertical back plate and with .top andbotto'nt flanges spaced a distance apart'greater tl1a-n' thc ver-- ticalthickness of the shuttle and which ex-n of the shuttles and above' the.li' emf travel of the top of the shuttles respe tit tely, and the upperof which flanges is fo d.or-cut tend below the line of travelofthebottom away to permit the passage ofthe thread. The threadpassin througheach of such guides enters from the top, passes downward to a guide pinor staple 56, thence outward under agulde pin 0r staple 57, and thenceupward pasta guide pin 58 from which it passes upward and inward tothe-pointiof braiding. When the guides-34 are in .their v inner orretracted positiQlh a'fll owndntFigs.

2 to 5, the outer run of the will be inside of the path of movement ofthe shuttle noses, but when the guides are in their outward position,.asshown in Fi s. 6

and 7, the outer run of the threads wifl be outside of the pathofzmovement of the shuttle noses, so that as a shuttle and an outwardlyprojected guide approach .and

. pass each other, the nose of the shuttle will pass inside of the outerrun of the thread carried by such guide and the thread will bedrawnaround the curved outer surface of the shuttle -as shown in Fig. 7.It will be .noted that this outer run of the carrier thread between theguide pins 56 and 57 is a free run; that is, the thread is .notinclosed, but is free-or open so that it may be engaged by anddrawn outin a loop around the shuttles. The guides 34 are given theirreciprocating outward and inward movements by 'means of a cam groove 60in the up er face of the stationary cam late 25, eac 1 guide beingprovided with an inwardly extending stem 61 which carries a cam rollrunning 1n the cam groove 60. The movement of the guides 34 need be onlythe very short movement required to move the outer run-of the carrierthread back and forth these guides across the path of movement of thenoses 'tomove the carrier thread clear across the path of movement ofthe body of the shuttle. The take-ups 33' o erate to pay out the carrierthreads as t ey 'pass outside the shuttles and to take up the slack inthe threads after they have passed around outside of the shuttles.'llhese take-ups are formed by pivoted arms fwhich are gwen apositive-take-up movement by means of vertically sliding racks 65 jwhichengage pinionsyfa'st ,to the arms and which racks are operated by meansof al vertical cam 66 on the cam plate 25, the racks being shown asprovided with cam roll: running on the"face of such cam. The can (56 isformed and timed to correspond with the cam 60 and with the travel ofthe shuttles, so that after the guides 34 have been projected to theirouter positions and when the front end of the shuttles are passing theguides, the takea up armswill moved forward and downward to give thenecessary slack to permit the carrier tlneads to pass around theshuttles, and as the shuttles pass beyond the guides thetake-up armswill be positively raised'to take up the slack. In the machine shown,which weaves the threads in a simple overand"underjor basket stitch, cum()0 is formed to project and retract the recipro I eating guides 34 inunison and in time with the meetings 'of the guides and the shuttles sothat the shuttles will pass alternately all outside and then all insideof the carrier threads, each'shu'ttle passing alternately inside andoutside of successively carrier threa'ds.

The tension devices 32 maybe of any suitable form. An ad'usta-bletension device,

such as shown, is pre erred.

The .wire, cable or other article or form about which the threads are tobe braided is fed upwa rd through the hollow shaft 27 to and past thebraldin point. The machine shown is intended ior braidin a covering onan electric conductor or cahle, and

is rovided with means for 1iding andv fee in the conductor or ea leupward throng the machine comprrsln a lower guide wheel 70 carried bybrac tets below the plate 10 and an upper feeding and guidin wheel 71which is driven from the driving shaft 15 through miter gears 72,vertical shaft 73, worm 74,, worm gear 75, gears 76, 77 and 78, andgear-7a, meshing with a ear 80 on the shaft of the guide and feedingwheel 71. Such gearing is timed to cause the conductor or cable to moveupward at the desired speed relatively to the speed of theweaving-mechanism, and accordin to the desired character of the weave.he gears 76 and 7 8 are preferably change gears to permitof variation inthespee movement'iof the cable or conductor, and to provide, for

the gear 77 for adjustment of. V ars 76 and 7.8 of difierent sizes, thegear 7 is carried by an adjust-' able arm 81 mounted to swing about theaxis-of the gear 78 and held in its adjusted position by means ofa boltand. nut cooperatin with a slotted downwardly extending ranch 82 of thearm 81, and the shaft of the gear 77 is mounted to be adjustable in alongitudinal slot in the arm 81.

In the o eration of, the machine, the carrier threa s being threadedfrom the tubes on the pins or osts 31 through the res ective tension(evices, take-up arms andr ci rocating guides, and thence upward to theraiding point, and the shuttle threads passin from the guides on theshuttles upwar to the braidingpoint, the carrier or table 26 is rotatedin the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, and the shuttles are driven inthe opposite direction to make successive revolutions in time with therotations of the carrier 26. The guides 34 through the operation of thestationary cam 60 are reciprocated in unison and in time with themovement of the shuttles so that as the shut tles pass the guides, theouter run of the carrier thread in each guide is presented alternatelyinsideand outside oft-he path of is indicated by Fig. 8.

If it is desired to have the machine operate as a circular loom, that isto cause the shuttle threads to interweave with threads from tubes orbobbins on non-rotating supports, it is only necessary to have the table26 remain stationary and cause the cam disk to rotate in eitherdirection .at half the angularveloeity of the shuttles. \Vith'themachine operatin in this-way, one set of threads in the joduct willextend longif; tudinally of th fabric and the otherset'rof 9' It will beunderstood that instead of have 1 threads will run spirally aroundthefabric.

ing the threads or strands of yarn or other material for use in themachine wound on a circular -ubes, as shown, itinight bet-bread 4woundfl ntaper'ng tube or cops, or on bob;

"' binst or'tubes having end-flanges, and that the word tube as usedh'efein in the.

el aims'is'intended to include all forms of tubes" "or: 'threadholderswhiehf'might be I used in tl e machine It is to-be-unders'tood also thatthe in .vention is notto be limited to. the exact con- 'ruct-ion,arrangement and combinations of jflpa rts ,as shown in the drawings, andto, ,wl ich-the foregoing description has been" mainly confined; butthat it includes modi- 1 1. In a braidingfinachine, the

ficat'ions" and; changes thereof within theclaims. "What. is 'cla med'icombination of a rotating tube carrier having a shuttle track-and tubesupports inside the shuttle track, shuttles mounted on the shuttletrack,-

K shuttle driving means for driving the shut tles'i the directionopposite to the direction "of rotation of the carrier, and vibratingguides mounted on the carrier inside'the shuttle track and each havingthread =guid-. 7 -'ing parts moving in planes aboveand below the path ofmovement of the shuttle noses,

the

the shuttles being :55,

{about themselves as they pass the vibrating ivhereby a free run of oneof the carrier, threads is guided and moved radially across path ofmoveme it of the shuttle noses,

bodies to force the c trier threads outward thread guides.

In a braiding machine, the com-bin tion of a rotating tube ClIT16I',"ShIshuttle driving means for dI'lVlIlg the,

tles in the direction opposite to the 'd'reiction of rotation of thecarrier, and short-movement vibrating guides for ,the carrier I threadsmounted on the carrier nside the path of movement ofthe shuttles v andformed with smooth direction oppositeto the direction of lOll-a-g .tionof the carrier,- and vibrating guides for the carrier threads mounted onthe carrier inside the path of movement'of the shuttles and formedeachto move a'free 'substantially vertical run of a carrier thread substantially radially of the carrier across the plath of movement of'thenoses of the shutt es. v

4. In a braiding machine,-the combination of a tube carrier mounted torotate abouta vertical axis, shuttles, shuttledriv ing means; fordriving the shuttlesin the direction opposite to the directionof-rota-'- tion; of thefcarrier, and short-movement vibrating guides forthe carrier threads formed each to. move a free run of acarrier threadsubstantially radially of the carrier across thezpath of movement of thenoses of thexshutt-les.

, side the shuttle track formed to move .free

runs of the carrier threads outwardly and inwardly across the path ofmovement of the noses of the shuttl'es.- v I 6. In a braiding machine,the combination of a rotating tube'earrier having a shuttle track andtube, supports inside the shuttle track, shuttles mounted to run on theshuttle track, shuttle driving means for driving the shuttles in thedirection opposite to the direction of rotation of the carrier,and'vibrating guides for 'the carrier threadsmounted insidethe shuttletrack inrecesses in the carrier extending across the shuttle track, saidguides being formed each to move a free run of a carrier thread out:wardly and inwardly across the path of movement of the noses of theshuttles.

7. In a braiding machine, the combination of a circular rotating tubecarrier having ashuttle 'track on its peripheral face 5 and havingradialrecesses extending inward from its peripheral face and through theshuttle track,shuttles-mounted to run on' the shuttle track, shuttledriving means for] driving the shuttles in the direction opp'o-j ,sitetoth'edireetion of rotation of the car- .ri'er, and. vibrating guidesfor the carr er .5. In a braiding machine, the combina- I of rotation ofthe carrier,

threads mounted in said recesses and formed each to 711love a freesubstantially vertical run of a carrier thread radially across the ofthe shut- 'v 'path of movementof the noses bodies to force the carrierthreads outward about themselves as they pass the vibratingthread-guides, and positively operated takeups for the carrier threads.I

9. Ina braiding machi11e,'the' combination of a circular rotating tablemounted-to rotate about a vertical axis, tube supports mountedon theupper side of the table, a shuttle track on the rim of the table, shuttles on said track, shuttle driving means for driving, the shuttles inthe direction oppo-' site to the direction of rotation of the table, andshort-movement vibrating guides mounted to move in recesses in theouter- 'portion of the table and formed. each to .11'1ove a free run ofa carrier thread outwardly and-inwardly across 'thepath of movementof'the noses of the shuttles.

10. In a braiding machine, thevco'mbination of a circular rotating tablemounted to scribing witnesses.

rotate about a vertical axis and having a shuttle track, tube supportsand take-ups on top of the. table. inside the shuttle tra clz,

shuttles mounted to run on the track, shuttle driving means for' drivingthe shuttlesin the direction opposite to the direction of r0 tatlon of.the table, vibrating guides formed to 1nove-free and. substantiallyvertical rims of the tablethreads radially across the path of movementof; the noses of the shuttles, and acaniv beneath the table foroperating,

said guides. y l

11. In a brmding'machme, the combination of a rotating table mounted 'torotate about a vertical axis and having'a shuttle track, tube supportsand take-ups on top of the table inside the shuttle track, shutJtles-nlounted to run on thetshuttle track, shuttle driving means fordriving the shuttles in the direction opposite to the direction ofrotation of 'the' table, vibrating guides carried by the table insidetheshuttle track and formed to Imove'free runs of the table threads acrossthe path oft-hemovement of-thenoses of the shuttle's,pand it cantbeneath the table for controlling the movement of the take-ups; Intestimony whereof, I have hereunto set. my hand, in the presence of twosub- ORVILLE R. VAN VEOHTEN. \Vitnessee:

EDWARD L'nmnnncnn, "REGINALD T. Somme]:

